The present invention relates to garments, and more particularly to disposable gowns.
Disposable gowns, such as operating room gowns, are generally made with an open back to prevent possible contamination to the critical sterile gown front. It is also desirable to maintain the gown back sterile since the wearer of a contaminated gown may contact the sterile gown front of another person with the gown back, thus contaminating the gown front of the second person. The gowns are provided with various devices for closing the gown, such as a belt. According to a preferred procedure, after the surgeon or other user dons the gown, he grasps one end of the belt which is positioned for easy access to the surgeon's hand, while the other end of the belt is brought around the opposite side of the gown by another person in the operating room, such as a nurse. After being handed the other end of the belt, the surgeon ties the ends of the belt to close the gown. Since it is desirable that the nurse may handle the other belt end without requiring that her hands be sterile, the outer end of the other belt end is normally covered by a protective member to prevent contamination to the gown belt during handling. After the nurse hands the other belt end to the surgeon, the protective member is pulled off the belt by the nurse.
Although the procedure for placing the gown is satisfactory in theory, certain difficulties have been encountered during placement of the gown resulting from possible contact of the protective member against the wearer's back. Thus, when the gown is being placed on the wearer, the protective member may touch the wearer's shirt before an opening on the gown back has been fully closed, causing contamination of the protective member before it has been grasped by the nurse for securing the gown about the wearer. If the protective member subsequently contacts the gown back, it must be assumed that the gown back has been rendered nonsterile. Accordingly, in this case, the first gown should be removed, and the procedure must be started anew with a second sterile gown.